Psst Brooke! We care about all crime, we express outrage and work for justice in our community everyday, the problem is y'all don't hear us because that's not considered news worthy. We are not as depraved as they would have you believe. It's the media.

On the other hand, in the interest of making some whites feel better about themselves, the hacks at CNN sought out the tiny and deceptively named “New Black Panther Party” which seems to exist purely to be called upon by the likes of Sean Hannity and Anderson Cooper when they need a comic black racist bogeyman. The NBPP dutifully rendered its standard performance, complete with scowling and on-camera chest-thumping about bounties and “citizens arrests.”

Thursday, March 29, 2012

MSNBC's Lawrence O'Donnell tweeted that George Zimmerman's lawyer will be on his program tonight. Let's hope Lawrence doesn't have to Super Glue Attorney Craig Sonner to the chair, so Jon Stewart doesn't get any new material.

Yesterday, with its revealing video of George Zimmerman walking unscathed and unruffled (zoomed, slo-mo copy) into the secured Sanford police department sallyport, was a big day in terms of moving the Trayvon Martin murder case forward. We've heard the 911 tape between Zimmerman and the police dispatcher, but we haven't yet heard Trayvon's 911 call to the Sanford police. Hearing that will be another step forward in the pursuit of justice.

The idea that a young man armed with Skittles and iced tea was killed walking home continues to outrage people. Bruce Springsteen introduced his “American Skin (41 Shots)” last night in Philadelphia with the words "This is for Trayvon." The song, originally written in response to the 2000 Amadou Diallo shooting, points up what so many know.

It ain't no secret
No secret my friend
You can get killed just for living
in your American skin.

The Honorable Robert Zimmerman says he "never foresaw so much hate coming from the President, the Congressional Black Caucus, the NAACP..." and went on to speculate about their motivations. Of course, we know what his are.

Rep. Corrine Brown (D-FL-3), whose congressional district at its most southern tip includes Sanford, remains vigilant in her pursuit of justice. On Tuesday, she participated in a "House Judiciary Committee briefing on racial profiling and hate crimes. The briefing will assess the role of the federal government regarding racial profiling and hate crime issues, specifically as it relates to the case of Trayvon Martin."

Yesterday she reiterated the importance of the Department of Justice investigation in view of the facts that "the Sanford Police never did toxicology testing on George Zimmerman, yet immediately tested Trayvon’s body; the area where the crime was committed was never properly secured, police failed to interview some witnesses, investigators never contacted Trayvon’s girlfriend even though they knew she was on the phone with him during the incident, police reports contradict the Chief’s public statements, and several other anomalies."

Before the release of the sallyport video, MSNBC's Lawrence O'Donnell, accompanied by NY Times' Charles Blow and the WP's Jonathan Capehart, did a couple of provocative interviews with Joe Oliver, who presents more anomalies in this tragedy. Mr. Oliver, a former co-worker and 6-year acquaintance of shooter George Zimmerman, quit his job to do unpaid mainstream media interviews ("softball interviews" as Lawrence called them) on behalf of George Zimmerman.

All of this could be critically important to the outcome, especially given the remarks made by the Jacksonville prosecutor recently assigned the case. "The prosecutor at the center of the national firestorm over whether the man who killed Trayvon Martin should be charged in his death said Tuesday she’s not likely to need a grand jury to make the decision for her.

More probable, she said, is that she’ll be the one to decide...In Florida, the decision on whether to indict someone in capital cases must be made by a grand jury. In all lesser cases the decision to file charges is routinely made by prosecutors. But in highly controversial or difficult cases, prosecutors often defer to a grand jury, leaving the politically charged decision to a panel of citizens."

31 days and counting since George Zimmerman shot and killed Trayvon Williams, I've learned when the mainstream media cautions us not rush to judgement because we don't have all the fact, they are not going to conduct an investigation and present the facts. No, they are going to wait for their unnamed sources to leak the facts they want us to know, instead of the facts we need to know..

"If the facts are as they appear now, whoever is running the Police Department, whoever is running the State Attorney's office down there are not worthy of the public trust, have betrayed the public trust. They are unworthy of representing the people of Florida..

We know that George Zimmerman's father, Robert Zimmerman, is a retired Virginia magistrate judge. We know that father George wrote to the Orlando Sentinel: "At no time did George follow or confront Mr. Martin. When the true details of the event became public, and I hope that will be soon," the letter said, "everyone should be outraged by the treatment of George Zimmerman in the media." The retired Virginia judge magistrate wrote that despite son George's clear, recorded reply to the police dispatcher that he was following Trayvon.

So, what could be going on here? We know that George was arrested 3 times in the past: "for domestic violence, resisting an officer without violence and most shockingly, resisting an officer with violence." That last one was a felony charge (just as a stalking charge for following Trayvon could have been).

George Zimmerman wasn't arrested, so he was allowed to go home, wash his clothes of evidence and is awaiting the April 10th grand jury hearing with all his creature comforts. Really nice when your pop has the connections to get you off on 3 arrests. But, can he rig the 4th?

Monday, March 26, 2012

In the past, I've said the Trayvon Martin murder case is layered like an onion. On Saturday, March 24th, MSNBC's "Up with Christ Hayes" devoted a lot of time to different aspects of case. One of the panel's participants, Attorney Bryan Stevenson, made startling revelations about American youngsters sentenced to life in prison.

In an attempt to demonize Trayvon Martin and defend his killer, authorities in Florida leaked to the press, the reason Trayvon Martin was in Sandford, Florida visiting his Father, instead of at his home in Miami Florida, and I for one am glad they did.

The Miami Dade School system suspended Trayvon Martin for 10 days because (get this) traces of marijuana was found in a plastic baggie in his book bag. Not a gun. Not a knife. Not a bomb. Not actual marijuana, but traces of marijuana in a baggie in his book bag.

If Trayvon Martin had been allowed to attend school in Miami, of in Orlando, George Zimmerman wouldn't have stalked and shot him him dead.. Of course he might not have been safe from being shot at school either.

I don't care if he had actual marijuana in a baggie in his book bag, Trayvon Martin did not deserve to be gunned down like a rabid dog, and it's certainly not a reason for George Zimmerman not to be arrested.

It's been 28 days and counting since George Zimmerman killed Trayvon Martin was killed in Sanford Florida because he'd wasn't in Miami, FL.

In essence the United States Supreme Court, who btw has access to the best government run health care our tax dollars can buy for life, are going to decided if we the people can have the same access to quality, affordable health care for life. What's not to like about that?

If the government can require you to purchase liability insurance for your automobile, why can't they require you to purchase health insurance for your body?

Sunday, March 25, 2012

I woke up this morning to the most NOT trusted name in news, CNN, pushing the New Black Panther Party Offers $10,000 for George Zimmerman, meme. What I want to know is; who/ where is the New Black Panther Party getting $10,000 from in this economy? If they have $10,000 they should give it to Trayvon Martin's parents. Psst CNN!I know you love all war all the time, but please stop trying to incite a race war for ratings as a weapon of mass distraction from Trayvon Martin's death. Click

Then comes MSNBC's Alex Twit, I mean Whitt asking Ron Allen if George Zimmerman's side of the story resonates with the people in Sandford, Florida. Psst Alex! Hell to the NO, Zimmerman's side of the story is not resonating with the people in Sanford, Florida because everything he said is a L-I-E. Your colleague Melissa Harris Perry is speaking TRUTH to power. Click

Somebody had to die so Dick Cheney could live, thanks to the best Government Run ObamaCare for Life our tax dollars can buy. And that's all I'm going to say.

Saturday, March 24, 2012

After uploading the photo, I see that it's much poorer quality than the original that you can find here. If you right click on that link and choose "open in a new tab" you can flip back and forth to follow me more easily. :)

I like looking at old photos; I'm not sure why. I think it's because when I do, I can fantasize about the people in them, speculate about what their lives where like, what challenges they faced, what kind of folks they were. And it turns out that by looking at the larger photo, there's an awful lot of new detail, telling a whole different story than what I first wrote.

In this photo, that's a tall, shy guy peering out from the behind the tree, showing his hand - is he missing a finger, or flashing the peace sign? And the fellow next to him, turning his body away from the camera, and then looking toward it, perhaps at the last minute. Just showing off his booze, or is he clowning around by covering the seated guy's face? No, the seated guy is holding up his trophy, a cougar face! And what about the guy next to him, the one staring so intently at the top of the stick? What is up with him? Turns out that he's reaching for the booze bottle being offered. Anyone can tell that the fellow on the ground is too darn exhausted to be interested in a photo session; he has a break and he's going to catch 20 winks! But behind him is that man with the jovial smile. He knows he's making history. Farther back, we see the soldier who wanted to show off his shotgun: is he saying "I'm armed and that makes me a better man" or is he combining with the fellow to his right, holding up the fry pan, to say "We hunt to eat?" That is, "we are self-sufficient men."

Then again moving forward, we see the man displaying his shovel overhead. Or, is it an axe? I wonder what his job was. Woodchopper? Did he provide the wood for the cooking fires? What would his life be like today, if he ran a skidder in the forest? And to the right of him, that guy holding the long, menacing knife...was he the buffalo butcher? And next to him, the fellow with the light colored chaps. It must have taken some time and talent to strip off that buffalo fur.

Notice how each man wears his cap differently? Some pull it forward, perhaps to block the sun or because of camera shyness. Perhaps some really don't want to be photographed, but feel as though they must. Or, perhaps, I've just made too much out of this old picture. But, in my own way, I've felt as though I've met each of these men by wondering about them. And I wonder if, when the picture was being made, they wondered who in the future, would wonder about them, their duties, their lives.

Professor Henry Louis Gates was arrested for getting uppity with police in his own damn house. Maybe if the mainstream media let us have an honest and open discussion about racial profiling instead of turning it into a beer summit, Trayvon Martin would be alive today.

The righty's are just itching for President Obama to over reach in the Trayvon Martin case so they can throw out some red meat to their base, make the case about President Obama's Ebony Donkey, and take the focus off the real issues surrounding the death of Trayvon Martin. Weapon of Mass Distraction.

President Obama said if he had a son he would look like Trayvon, the Justice Department, which reports to him as head of the Executive Branch, is on the case.

Thursday, March 22, 2012

Meet Duval County State Attorney Angela Cory, Florida Governor Rick Scott's pick for a new prosecutor in the Trayvon Martin case, after Seminole County State Attorney Norman Wolfinger volunteered to recuse himself, after temporarily resigned Sandford Police Chief Bill Lee handed the case over to him, after the City manager Norman Bonaparte, called for an independent investigation of the Sanford Police Department. Whew

Meet Florida Lt. Governor Jennifer Carroll, picked by Governor Rick Scott to lead a special task force in response to the death of Trayvon Martin.

Funny how republican men don't trust women with a choice but they trust them to be special prosecutors and lead special task forces. Snark

I felt threatened so I shot them. That's Stand Your Groundin plain English. Ironically, Trayvon Martin was killed for standing his ground. He was threatened after being stalked by George Zimmerman . Unfortunately, Trayvon was threatened by a man with a 9 mm pointed at his chest, and all he had to defend himself with was a bag of Skittles and an Arizona Ice Tea.

Captain Bill Lee of the Sanford FL Police Department made this statement about George Zimmerman, the killer who murdered Trayvon Martin.

“Mr. Zimmerman’s claim is that the confrontation was initiated by Trayvon,” Police Chief Bill Lee said in an interview. “I am not going into specifics of what led to the violent physical encounter witnessed by residents. All the physical evidence and testimony we have independent of what Mr. Zimmerman provides corroborates this claim to self defense.”
To claim self defense, someone has to show there was danger of great bodily harm or death, Lee said.
“Zimmerman had injuries consistent with his story,” Lee said.
Zimmerman had a damp shirt, grass stains, a bloody nose and was bleeding from a wound in back of his head, according to police reports.
“If someone asks you, ‘Hey do you live here?’ Is it OK for you to jump on them and beat the crap out of somebody?” Lee said. “It’s not.”

...Sanford’s Police Chief Lee is “asking the public and the media to give the system the opportunity to work, in the interest of safety of the community...Lee said the matter needs to be taken to a grand jury as soon as possible.
“If the roles were reversed, our investigation would be exactly the same,” he said. “Our investigation is color blind and based on the facts and circumstances, not color. I know I can say that until I am blue in the face, but as a white man in a uniform, I know it doesn’t mean anything to anybody.”
We have heard the police dispatcher tell Zimmerman not to follow Trayvon, but he did so anyway. That is stalking, a felony crime in Florida.

(c) "Credible threat" means a threat made with the intent to cause the person who is the target of the threat to reasonably fear for his or her safety. The threat must be against the life of, or a threat to cause bodily injury to, a person.
(2) Any person who willfully, maliciously, and repeatedly follows or harasses another person commits the offense of stalking, a misdemeanor of the first degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083.
(3) Any person who willfully, maliciously, and repeatedly follows or harasses another person, and makes a credible threat with the intent to place that person in reasonable fear of death or bodily injury, commits the offense of aggravated stalking, a felony of the third degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084.

The Sanford Police Department didn't arrest Zimmerman for stalking, though. He must be apprehended before he flees.

"They better move in fast on this case because a lot of people have acted in a shameful way."

"They (Police) say let him (Trayvon) go and he (Zimmerman) still chases after him, and you can hear him in the background yelling 'help" and they still don't arrest him?"

"Here a young man gets killed and the police don't arrest this murderer for anything?"

"This law is literally getting in the way of action being taken." Mika

"It's not the (Stand your ground) law, it's the (Sanford) Police Department down there it's the State Attorney's office down there".

"How is someone standing their ground against someone who is screaming for help?"~Mika

"They (Sanford Police Department) have known since February 26, that this young 17 year old man, Trayvon Martin, armed with nothing but ice tea skittles and a cell phone, minding his own business, walking through a neighborhood, was chased, hunted down, screaming for help, then shot to death, they have known this...and they have not arrested the man who they know very clearly wasn't standing his ground who killed him".

"If the facts are as they appear now, whoever is running the Police Department, whoever is running the State Attorney's office down there are not worthy of the public trust, have betrayed the public trust. They are unworthy of representing the people of Florida..

"It sounds like they (Sanford Police Department) were trying to cover some tracks"

"They drug test the dead 17 year old who had ice tea and skittles, and they don't drug test the person who has just killed another person"?

"Who are these people"?

"The State of Florida needs to act aggressively".

"They better not get away with it."

"It does have to do with race. If anybody watching this show either live or on the Internet, does not believe if an African American shot a 17 year old white boy walking through a neighborhood carrying ice tea and skittles, if they do not be believe there would have been an arraignment the next morning for the African American shooter, and the white boys family would be notified immediately, that an officer would not have driven to the white boys parents home, sat on their couch and consoled them because they just lost their 17 year old son...if you believe this case, and the handling of this case by the people in Florida has nothing to do with race, you are living in a fantasy world."

"The Justice Department and the Attorney General Pam Bodi in Florida need to do more than investigate the death, because it seem to be fairly obvious what happened, they need to investigate the (Sanford) Police department and the State Attorney's Office and see why the parents weren't notified immediately, and why this guy hasn't been arrested.

"You don't have to have an open and shut case, arrest the guy, throw him in jail, they got probable cause, they got a 9 mm, they got him chasing him down the street, they got the gun shot on the 911 tape, they have reason to lock this guy up this morning, they had it the night that it happened.

What Reverend Al Sharpton said all the damn way!"I must say this has been the most inspiring morning I've had with Joe Scarborough"

You can see/hear the entire segment in context here, then compare and contrast it with Matt Laur's UNfair and UNbalanced interview of the grieving parents of Trayvon Martin, and the family attorney, on The Today Show.

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Listen , at about 1:50-3 you can hear George Zimmerman whisper: "The a$$ holes always get away, F**king Coons", just before the police ask "are you following him?" .

Until we hold these people responsible for acts of violence, both large and small, there can be no racial equality in our country. Our young black and Hispanic youth will continue to move about their lives knowing that they have a target on their back all day, every day. This is not justice for them and it sure as hell is not justice for Trayvon Martin.~ Left Leaning Liberal Lady

For those of you polluting my inbox calling me obsessed with Trayvon Martin, telling me to get over it, because no one is paying any attention to me because I'm a racist, this blog is not for you. That's the great thing about the Internet, no one forces anyone to read anything they don't want to read.

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I didn't plan or want to start this blog. For three years years I had the privilege and honor of being a front pager at Left in Alabama. Friday, November 13,2009 was my unlucky day because my privileges were revoked. Prior to my privileges being revoked I was constantly being advised how to write, what to write, and finally informed if I wanted freedom of speech I needed to start my own blog.

I didn't leave Left in Alabama, Left in Alabama left me, literally. Despite sincere, begging and groveling I am not allowed to express my opinions there, and that's a pity since it's supposed to be the blog of record for progressive, informed, democrats, but the Righty's have more privileges.

I don't have any illusions as to my "influence" or importance in the world, but I love my country, and in my own way I hope to make a difference because I want to make this world we live in a better place for everyone.

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